Former Democratic Party legislator doctor promoted prostitution in exchange for medicines in New York
Dr. William Spencer, a physician and former Suffolk County (Long Island, NY) Democratic legislator, admitted trading prescription pills for sexual favors with prostitutes and lied to investigators in a cover-up attempt.
Spencer pleaded guilty of tampering with public records and sponsoring a prostitute as part of a deal in which Judge John Collins sentenced him to six months in prison, one year of probation and 420 hours of community service, reported Long Island Press.
“Dr. Spencer admitted to violating laws he was sworn to uphold as an elected official and wasting police resources by lying in an affidavit.”
Raymond Tierney, Suffolk County District Attorney
“Dr. Spencer admitted to violating laws he was sworn to uphold as an elected official and wasting police resources by lying in an affidavit,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney. “No one is above the law, including elected officials who engage in criminal conduct.”
Prosecutors said the 55-year-old former Democratic lawmaker, who leads the county’s opioid task force, had filed a false affidavit with the Suffolk Police Department in July 2020 in which he lied about never having sponsored to sex workers after presenting a complaint for having been a “victim” of an extortion scheme related to prostitution.
But a joint investigation with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) discovered that Spencer contacted a sex worker whose phone was in the possession of the police. In October 2020, an undercover officer posing as a prostitute contacted Spencer, who agreed via text message to provide him with oxycodone pills in exchange for sex.
The doctor, who was still a legislator at the time, was arrested at the agreed meeting place, a parking lot behind a shopping center in Elwood, while using his county-issued vehicle.
Upon arrest, Spencer was found in possession of two non-prescription 30-milligram oxycodone pills. The investigation found that he had previously sponsored sex workers, revealing that the statement he made to detectives months earlier was false.
If you successfully complete interim probation, the felony charge will be dismissed and you will serve an additional two years of probation for the sponsorship charge. also agreed not reapply for registration as a doctor with the DEA to prescribe controlled substances. Spencer was a Suffolk County legislator from January 2012 until leaving office in December 2021.
In a similar case, in March Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, an emergency room physician in Hoboken, NJ, and her roommate Serge Corporan were arrested and charged with various counts of drug trafficking.
Previously, in late 2020, Dr. Joseph Santiamo, a physician practicing in Staten Island (NYC), admitted to soliciting sexual favors from young patients in exchange for prescribing opioids, federal authorities announced.
And in another sting operation, psychiatrist Dr. Leon Valbrun and physician assistant Po Yu Yen were arrested for illegally prescribing highly addictive drugs without a legitimate medical purpose, in exchange for cash in Manhattan.
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